Last year, as a junior, Kelli Yeamans
missed UTEP's unbelievable victory at heavily favored Texas in
the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Miners' sweeper had gone
down with an ACL tear of her left knee six weeks earlier.

This year, Yeamans tore the ACL in her right knee. It came in a game
against Rice where she did not allow Owl star Clory Martin to get a shot on goal.
Two days earlier, she had scored against Houston. Conference USA
Defensive of the Week honors were a small consolation for the sad
truth: Yeamans' career was over with four weeks left in the regular
season.

The Miners (13-4-0) are in a four-way race with No. 19 SMU, No. 25
Colorado College and UCF for the regular-season title in the vastly
underrated Conference USA. UTEP drew a record crowd of 1,106 fans for
the Rice game, and another record could be set when it hosts CC
Saturday at University Field, where they are 9-0 this season.

Watching from the sidelines isn't where Yeamans wants to be, but she
learned from her injury last season that every game could be her last.

"It wasn't the happy ending I wanted it to be," she told the El
Paso Times. "But I left it all on the field."